Foscoe Fishing Company Blog - Fishing Reports
Foscoe Fishing Company offers the most complete report of fly fishing conditions in western North carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Our professional reports are updated regularly with water flows, recommended flies and equipment, and special fishing tips for the most important fly-fishing destinations in Blue Ridge Mountains. Plan your next fishing trip knowing you’ll arrive without any surprises and discover some new fishing destinations in the area.
June Fishing Report
You’ll find great fishing right now if you’re on the South Holston or Watauga rivers! On the Holston, look for good midge and sulphur hatches during the day with sulphur spinner falls in the evening. On the Watauga, There have been sporadic caddis hatches and fish have been taking emerging patterns fairly well. Also look for the usual midge hatch as well as sulphurs. Look for sulphur spinner falls in the evening until dark.
Delayed Harvest waters have now changed over to a catch and keep fishery so fishing pressure will make for tough fishing. With that being said, fish can still be found in less likely areas such as along undercut banks and shallow riffles. Nymphing with mayfly and caddis patterns should produce fish. Good hatches of caddis flies have been hatching mid morning along with midges. Also, sulphur mayflies are starting to show up along with small yellow stoneflies. Don’t forget to look for terrestrials such as beetles and ants this time of year. They provide a ton of food for trout during the summer months!
TN Tailwater and NC Delayed Harvest Fishing Report
You’ll find great fishing right now if your on the South Holston or Watauaga rivers! On the Holston, look for good midge hatches throughout the day and Sulphur hatches in the evening. On the Watuaga, a few sporadic caddis hatches have been productive times to fish. Also Look for large hatches of Sulphurs in the evening until dark. As usual, midges are always present along with a few craneflies.
The Delayed Harvest fishing on the Watauga in NC has also been productive. Good hatches of caddis flies have been hatching mid morning along with midges. Also, sulphur mayflies are starting to show up along with small yellow stoneflies. Dont forget to look for terrestrials such as beetles and ants this time of year!
S. Holston TN. & Watauga Delayed Harvest NC fishing report March 15, 2010
Well, after a recent stocking of the Watauga Delayed Harvest the fish are responding well to the high water and the nymph fishing should continue to be good through June. We are still using an assortment of searching patterns, san juan worms, prince nymphs, hares ears,…. along with a small midge or mayfly pattern. A good blue wing olive hatch has been occurring through the middle part of the day. Fish are rising to a variety of olive patterns in sizes 12-18. Droppers have also been effective during the hatch.
After fishing through the weekend low water on the S. Holston the two major hatches observed were Blue Wing Olives, and Black Flies. The blue wing hatch happened around lunch time on both Saturday and Sunday. The fish responded well to nymphs, emergers, and dry flies in the 16-18 range. The major black fly hatch happened the two or three hours right before dark on both days. Although black flies were seen sporadically throughout the day the majority came off late in the afternoon. The fish were taking black fly and midge patterns in the 20-24 range.
Be paitent fishing tiny flies, dry them off frequently and make many passes by your target fish.
good luck,
matt
In search of the season’s first smallie…
Tuesday afternoon offered temperatures in the 60’s and a beautiful blue sky, so naturally I coerced my roommate Joey into floating a section of the Watauga in his canoe. We began our float just below the DH section in search of the season’s first smallie and possibly a large trout. Armed with my six weight and a pearl Murdich Minnow, we eased downstream and began pounding the banks. We beached the canoe alongside the first likely looking riffle and I was rewarded with an aggressive strike from a headstrong wild brown. What he lacked in size he more than made up for with his tenacious headshakes. Continuing on, we fished riffles and tail-outs picking up fish at each stop. I was surprised, but pleased, to hook into several stocked fish well downstream of the DH section. As the sun eased behind the clouds and the mercury dropped, Joey and I decided to put down our rods and pick up the paddles in order to arrive at the takeout before dark, not to mention our feet had become ice blocks after wet-wading riffles all afternoon. The total fish count for about two and a half hours of fishing came to eight–one wild brown, one wild ‘bow, three stocked ‘bows and three pale stocked brookies, all on streamers. No smallies, but a good day all in all. I assure you, nymphing would have produced several trout, and once the water temperature warms some the smallies will be moving. Tight lines until next time.
Who says you can’t fish in sub-freezing temperatures?
After sitting in the house for most of the day I decided to take advantage of the sunny, yet still cold, weather. To give you a sense of the air and water temperature, the hog you see below, along with my rod and net, are all resting on ice at the edge of the river. I geared up and headed to a DH section of the Watauga I hadn’t fished since the fall, but knew held some nice fish. Needless to say my efforts were rewarded. An hour into the trip I had only brought three fish to hand, so I decided to move downstream to a nice little run where a client lost a good-sized brown during a trip last October. The 22 1/2″ beauty you see above ate my trailing soft hackle within the first ten drifts through the run. After settling myself down, I fished meticulously and caught five more fish from the same spot, none comparable to the nice holdover ‘bow, but fun to catch all the same. Determined to reach double digits in fish caught, I returned to a deep slow pool I fished earlier in the afternoon. It didn’t take long to pull a feisty little rainbow of the bottom to attain my goal of double digit numbers. The day ended when I hooked a second monster who broke my 5X tippet after some vicious head shakes. I never saw the fish, but I’m almost certain it would have put the pictured ‘bow to shame. Of course they can be as big as you want when you fail to actually bring them to hand or see them. Losing that last fish left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but anytime you land a fish over 20 inches it’s a great day on the water regardless. Tight lines until next time.
Local and TN Tailwater Fishing Report February 4, 2010
Well after another very wet and cold couple of weeks the rivers are back up and running. I don’t see any stop to the generators on the TN tail-waters in the near future. The local streams are up but are very fishable, high off color water are our favorite water conditions to really get into them.
We floated the Holston River several times in the past week and have had some great dry fly fishing as well as excellent nymphing, especially in the recently reopened spawn areas. Its nice to fish to fish that haven’t seen a fake bug in four months. Our dry fly fishing was most successful using blue wing patterns in the 18-20 range either olive, grey, or black. The prominent hatch that we have seen in the last week were black flies. Patterns in the 20-24 range seem to work well. I usually have an assortment of colors from light to dark for these little guys. If you have fished over there enough you know they will eat a variety of different patterns and colors so be prepared!
Nymph fishing the reopened spawn water was borderline cheating. We fished a lot of bigger patterns that usually are saved for the Delayed Harvest waters. Prince nymphs, San Juan worms, copper johns, and of course the normal small blue wings and midge patterns worked well.
Our local Delayed Harvest water, the Watauga River, has been fishing well. There are plenty of fish to catch and the water levels are great. We have had the best luck on bigger patterns in the 12-16 range. Prince Nymphs, zug bugs, San Juan worms, pheasant tails, have all produced fish. Try not to over complicate things, really try to spot fish from the bank, move in slow and sink your flies to the right depth.
Good luck and make sure to come by and see us if your in the area or even if your not.
Farm Pond Bass Fishing
One of our guides recently had the opportunity to go and fish a small pond in SC while on a duck hunting trip. “Farm pond” fishing is one of John’s favorite ways to get a line wet. Usually there are alot of different species lurking in those dingy waters like large mouth bass, sunfish (bream), crappie, catfish, and there’s always the stories of the giant snapping turtle as big as a dinner table.
John’s no Nathan Webber when it comes to bass fishing, but he did alright fishing brown woolly buggers on a slow retrieve. The bass were hungry, but not too willing to chase anything moving fast. After he and his friends caught a few bucket mouths, they switched to some trout patterns like copper johns and soft hackles to catch some bream.
Small pond fishing is a great way to keep fishing in the winter, or if you live far from a trout stream. Its easy to run out for an afternoon and cast some flies to eager fish- or maybe even hook that giant snapping turtle.
Blue Ridge Fishing and Hatch Report January 13th, 2010
South Holston and Watauga Tailwaters Fishing Report
Water flows have been down recently due to less generation on the South Holston and wade fishing has been much more accessible! There has been a good Blue Winged Olive hatch that should continue throughout the winter. Also, as always, midges are abundant and even through the snow there have been good hatches. Finish reading this fishing report >>
Blue Ridge Fishing and Hatch Report December 10th, 2009
South Holston and Watauga Tailwaters Fishing Report
On the South Holston, oddly enough, there have still been quite a few sulphurs hatching. Most of which have been weather related during warmer sunny days. As the colder weather approaches us, look for more Blue Winged Olive action. Finish reading this fishing report >>
Blue Ridge Fishing and Hatch Report November 10th, 2009
November has arrived and that means tail-water fishermen should have plenty of tiny midges and blue wing olive imitations in their boxes. Anglers should be looking for blue wing hatches coming off in the afternoon, while the midges are more consistent throughout the day. Finish reading this fishing report >>
